Speciffics of furniture industry development in Lithuania

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos baldų pramonės ekonominės raidos ypatybės Lietuvoje. Pateikti duomenys apima visą baldų pramonės vystymosi eigą, kuri suskirstyta į tris raidos laikotarpius: pradinį, sovietinį, centralizuotos planinės ekonomikos ir dabartinį - rinkos ekonomikos sąlygomis. Lietuvoje šios srities mokslinius tyrimus atliko mokslininkai doc. A. Merkevičius [S] ir prof. dr. B. Martinkus [5]. Straipsnyje išsamiau nagrinėjamas Lietuvos baldų pramonės vystymasis pastaruoju dešimtmečiu, apibendrinant vidaus prekybą ir eksportą. Be to gvildenamos pagrindinės baldų pramonės problemos, kurias ateityje turėtų spręsti Lietuvos baldininkai, o kartu ir šalies vadovybė, kas neabejotinai pagerintų mūsų baldininkų pozicijas pasaulinėje rinkoje. Baldų pramonės raidos ypatybėms įvertinti panaudoti naujausi šios pramonės šakos vystymosi pajėgumų duomenys.The article analizes furniture industry development in Lithuania. The data provided in the article embraces three periods of furniture industry development, which are as follows: first - initial period, second - period of central planning economy of Sovietic Lithuania, and third - the present, period of free competitive market. One should mention the scientific research on the issue, performed by academics, Assoc. Prof. A. Mockevičius [8] and Prof. B. Martinkus [5]. A special attention is given to the development of Lithuanian furniture industry during the recent decade, emphasizing internal trade and exports. The author provides the analysis of furniture manufacturers who arc the biggest producers for internal market as well as exporters abroad. The main problemie issues of Lithuanian furniture industry are addressed as well as the solution of these issues is recommended to producers and the government, in order to improve the positions of manufacturers in the global market. The newest sources of empirical data were used, in order to evaluate characteristics of furniture industry development. During the recent decade the development of furniture industry in Lithuania was quite uneven. This was the main reason for difficulties experienced by producers nowadays. Because of the lack of analytical data and research concerning furniture industry, furniture manufacturers are attempting to perform market situation analysis themselves, by measuring and estimating quality of wood, sales markets and new production technology development